#Grappling

UWW Announces Grappling U23, Senior World Championships Hosts

Tuesday, March 1, 2022 - 12:20 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (March 1) -- United World Wrestling announced the host cities for its top two Grappling events in 2022.

Grappling is one of UWW's fastest-growing styles, with events and participation numbers growing each year.

The Grappling World Championships will be held September 5-8 in Belgrade, Serbia. As is the norm, it will be before the Olympic-style World Championships which are also scheduled in Belgrade.

In 2021, the event was held in Belgrade prior to the U23 World Championships. This year, it only gets better with the Championships to be held at the Stark Arena. This will be one of the biggest organizations of the Championships to date for grapplers to exhibit their talents of submission.

A month later, the U23 Grappling World Championships will be organized in Pontevedra, Spain. The beach city will be the host as Grappling and its stars close out the year on a high in Spain, a country that continues to emerge as a big nation for sports talents. 

“We have grand plans for Grappling and it will be UWW's priority moving forward,” Nenad LALOVIC, President of UWW, said. “This sport has enormous potential and we look forward to working with grappling experts and combining our knowledge from the Olympic styles.”

The first Grappling competition for the year will be the Senior European Championships that begin in Budapest, Hungary from March 26-27.

Grappling, formerly organized by UWW’s Associated Styles office in Istanbul, Turkey, has been brought back to UWW Headquarters in Switzerland with hopes of progressing the sport to the next level.

For the full list of events on the Grappling calendar and all other styles can be accessed at uww.org/events.

#development

UWW conducts REDT program in Benin

Tuesday, December 23, 2025 - 12:06 By United World Wrestling Press

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OUIDAH, Benin (December 20) -- United World Wrestling (UWW), in collaboration with the Benin Wrestling Federation, the Benin National Olympic Committee and the national sports authorities, successfully organized the Regional Education and Development Wrestling Tournament (REDT), which took place in Ouidah from November 23 to 30, 2025.

This event represents the first tournament ever organized in West Africa, marking a major milestone in UWW’s wrestling development strategy on the African continent.

Ten countries from the West African region took part in the tournament, contributing to a framework of technical and educational exchanges aimed at enhancing the competencies of wrestling stakeholders.

Deqa NIAMKEY, Director of Development at United World Wrestling, paid an official visit to Benin. She praised the progress achieved by the Benin Wrestling Federation and recalled the core objective of the REDT program.

"The REDT was initiated by United World Wrestling to support countries in the sustainable development of wrestling.”

Niamkey also conducted a sports administration education session with representatives of national federations, while Youssef BOUAZIZ delivered an online training session on ARENA.

Benin

Ahead of the competitions, a regional coaches’ education program was conducted from November 24 to 27, 2025, bringing together coaches, referees, athletes and technical staff from Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Senegal.

This program was delivered by Vincent AKA, UWW Expert and Development Officer, and concluded with theoretical and practical evaluations leading to the award of UWW International Coaching Certifications Levels 1 and 2.

Celestin PAVELESCU, UWW Expert, led the refereeing education program in Olympic Wrestling and Beach Wrestling, contributing to the improvement of technical standards and the harmonization of officiating practices across the region.

The competitions were held on November 29, 2025 at the IRSP Gymnasium, while the Beach Wrestling events took place on November 30, 2025 at the Door of No Return Beach, an emblematic site of Ouidah’s historical and cultural heritage.

The host nation particularly distinguished itself during this edition, winning a total of 35 medals (11 gold, 15 silver and 9 bronze).

The development strategy focused on youth and the introduction of wrestling in the school environment, with a strong representation of U17 wrestlers, illustrates the long-term vision pursued by the Benin Wrestling Federation.

At the conclusion of the competition, the President of the Benin Wrestling Federation, Adihunkpéto YVES AZIFAN, congratulated all wrestlers and coaches, while reaffirming the federation’s commitment to position Benin sustainably among the leading nations of African and international wrestling.